State Will Likely Settle With Death Row Inmate

ATMORE, Al - A Death Row inmate whose February execution was botched, leaving him with serious injuries, may reach a settlement with the State of Alabama. Doyle Lee Hamm, 61, who was scheduled to be executed February 22 by lethal injection, had been convicted of killing Cullman hotel clerk Patrick Cunningham in January 1987.

Hamm had more than a dozen puncture marks in his legs and groin and may have had his bladder and femoral artery penetrated before the lethal injection was called off, according to Hamm's attorney, Bernard Harcourt. Harcourt issued a statement after Hamm was examined by a doctor, saying that while Hamm was strapped to the gurney, the IV team "simultaneously worked on both legs at the same time, probing his flesh and inserting needles."

Accoring to a report by Alabama Media Group, assistant AGs and Harcourt attended a telephone conferencetoday with U.S. Chief District Judge Karon Bowdre. A document filed by Harcourt Monday morning showed a proposed timeline for court proceedings, if the case were to go to trial. In that timeline, Harcourt says both sides should be prepared for trial by October 31, and the trial would likely take three to five days.

"The parties anticipate that the case will be settled," the filing states.

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Hamm had a long list of legal issues before committing murder, and his lawyer has argued since 1990 that Hamm's upbringing was a factor, since he grew up in a poor and abusive home. Alabama Media Group presented Hamm's long history of crime and his family's brushes with the law here.

Photo from Alabama Department of Corrections